Potential crossover voters targeted in presidential race

Further evidence that voters are unhappy with their party’s choices for president surfaces in a new analysis that shows significant numbers of “reluctant Republicans” and “disaffected Democrats.”

The Triangle has a particularly high number of these potential crossover voters who might vote for the other party’s candidate, according to research by the Republican firm Deep Root Analytics. Potential crossover voters will be heavily targeted with TV and digital ads in the months leading up to the election, based at least in part on this research.

The analysis identified 9 percent of the U.S. electorate as “reluctant Republicans” and 8 percent as “disaffected Democrats.”

In what the firm identifies as the Raleigh-Durham market (but includes Fayetteville), 10.4 percent (72,356) were identified as potential crossover Democrats who might vote for Donald Trump, and 19 percent (145,810) as Republicans who might vote for Hillary Clinton.

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As the Wall Street Journal reported last week, the firm also determined that Trump runs 27 percentage points behind a generic GOP candidate among white, college-educated Republican women. Trump runs more than 10 percentage points ahead of a generic candidates among white men who say they are Democrats or independents.

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